Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition – Unboxing

It feels like it’s taken a long time to get to this place, but finally I have a Meizu MX4. I was very impressed with this when I first had a hands on with it at MWC earlier this year. Since then I have had more of a chance to look at the OS on some other hardware that is available with Ubuntu Touch. I recently finished doing an extensive review on the mid-tier BQ Aquarius E5 Ubunutu Edition.

In this post I’ll cover all the major software elements of the phone and what really makes it tick.

This time around we have definitely got flagship challenging specifications, so it looks pretty exciting out of the blocks. Like the previous devices, this one is based upon the Meizu MX4 Android (Flyme OS) device, so it does have one legacy feature – the home button. This also doubles as a notification LED. It works but isn’t necessary, and I would have preferred if they had excluded it in all honesty.

Initial first impressions
I am pretty pleased with the device and the setup process went well… with the exception that none of my previous Ubuntu apps or scopes were brought over. It is a shame but not the end of the world. One big thing that I noticed is that the keyboard seemed to be a lot more fluid in this version. I am not sure if this is to be attributed to the hardware or to the slightly updated OS, but it just feels so much better.

The phone is big. Don’t underestimate that. I have reasonably big hands and I’m used to using phablets, but some adjustment in how I use this will be required. This is going to be mostly down to the gesture driven nature of the OS. I foresee this being a two-handed device for me, which I don’t mind too much.

I have filmed a brief unboxing video below for you so you can get an idea of how the phone looks and feels. There is also a comparison of the phone to its brethren – the BQ E5…

If you want to see if this phone has the ability to alter my perception of Ubuntu Touch as a bit of a ‘me-too’ OS, then follow us here and we will see what happens with it.